Today (your tomorrow) on the South Island
February 26th, 2007This the course we have taken.
Christchurch is a lovely city. We visited their Botanic Gardens which was extraordinary…extraterrestrial too…this spaceship was on display on the grounds.
We are now a bit outside of Christchurch in a beautiful harbour village called Akaora. We went out in a boat this morning for a wildlife tour…saw seals, penguins, and dolphins. We will be hitting some more coastline to find more waves and then we return to Christchurch on Thursday (Wednesday for most of you) to return to LA.
More photos to come…but for now…this movie.
End of North Island
February 21st, 2007Before we left the Taranaki region we stopped outside of Opanake and Aaron surfed a spot called “the dump” . The guy at the nearby surf shop (where we got internet access) said to turn at the hay barn that has the knee boarding championship sign painted on it. New Zealanders are very fond of painting signs and murals on the sides of buildings. Its all over the place. The dump is down a dirt road just off highway 45 (the Surf Highway) and seems to be on private property because there is gate and a sign that politely says “please close the gate behind you.” We parked at the end of the road and walked a bit further just beyond the next gate (no vehicles allowed). Daddy surfed while the girls explored the beach and river mouth.
We got back on the road to Wellington and stopped at a farm after a few hours.
February 20th, 2007
Hello from the “surf highway” the coastal road that is taking us from New Plymouth to Wellington where we will catch the ferry over to the south island.
Daddy caught some nice waves today in the tiny beach town of Opanake where we camped for two nights (surf photos coming soon)
Joy waving from her perch…finding a place to camp
On the river bed by the beach
Walking along the beach at Opanake
Something to do at night at the campsite
from Taranaki region
February 18th, 2007We are near mount Taranaki…in New Plymouth. It hasn’t been that easy to log on..being that we are in a pristine and isolated place…No complaints!
Here are a few quick snapshots.
Leaving Raglan…Aaron getting used to wrong side driving.
At our new campsite in Onaero Bay…two pictures spliced together…no one around to take a family photo
more of the same campsite
where we are
February 18th, 2007… how we got here…
from Raglan
February 17th, 2007Checking wave conditions from our camp site.
leaving Auckland
February 17th, 2007
pressing forward
February 16th, 2007we had our first day in the campervan yesterday…made it to Raglan…about 3 hours out of big city Auckland. We are here. Can’t upload pics here….on a a coin operated terminal. We are here. http://www.solscape.co.nz/
LANDED
February 13th, 2007We made it to Auckland. It was a long haul starting with a short jump from Kona to Honolulu International Airport where we spent approximately 6 hours waiting for our flight to New Zealand. The flight itself was about 9 hours, for which joy slept. Very nice! We arrived in Auckland at 8 AM and Joy was ready to explore. Mummy and daddy however were zonked. Our hotel room was not ready for us so we had to go kill about 4 hours in the hilly city of Aukland. During one short rest (always abbreviated with a toddler) under a tree in a very nice park I thought not about my tired itchy eyes …or my throbbing legs but that it was really starting to feel like real travel…and how exciting and wonderful it is…all the lugging and hauling and pressing forward. There is nothing like it!
Anyway…not photos yet. Can’t get the proper technology going at this hotel. We did pick up a cell phone. Outgoing calls are very expensive. But for some reason incoming international calls are free on our end. Callers, I am sure will see an international charge on their end.
To reach us all you have to do is dial these numbers as is:
011 64 21379961
We are 5 hours earlier than Houston and 6 hours earlier than Florida.
We will get some photos up soon.
LOVE TO ALL
Joy is 2 today!
February 11th, 2007Happy Birthday Joy!
